Sri Lanka suspends parliament

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s new president suspended parliament for a month from Tuesday ahead of snap elections he wants to call in March to consolidate his sweeping victory.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, elected president last month in a landslide, issued a proclamation overnight proroguing the legislature and said a new session will begin from January 3. Rajapaksa, 70, is hoping to ride a wave of popularity by calling an election six months before the current parliament’s five-year term expires in August.

He has already ordered major tax cuts in a bid to boost an economy still struggling after deadly Easter Sunday suicide bombings that crippled the country’s booming tourism sector. A 15-percent value-added tax was cut to eight percent, while another two-percent goods and services tax was abolished from this month. The construction industry -- which has slumped hard this year -- also saw its corporate tax burden cut from 28 to 14 percent.